After rattling off 17 consecutive scoreless appearances, Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald hit a snag at an inopportune time.

-Jesse Friedman

Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald addresses string of blown saves

Diamondbacks closer Paul Sewald is coming off arguably the worst week of his career.

In all three of his appearances dating back to June 2, he entered with a lead in the ninth inning. On all three occasions, the D-backs lost.

In total, Sewald threw 1 2/3 innings and allowed seven earned runs, including three homers. Opposing hitters slashed .583/.615/1.500 against him in that stretch. That's a 2.115 OPS.

Sewald did not speak with the media after either of his past two outings, but he did before Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Braves.

Suffice it to say that Sewald is puzzled by his recent rough stretch.

"The stuff's been the same and locations have been the same," he said. "The results have been the complete opposite."

Entering last week, Sewald had a 0.57 ERA and was 11-for-11 in save opportunities. Now, after blowing three consecutive saves for the first time in his career, he has seen his ERA balloon to 3.93.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was adamant after Monday's blown save against the Braves that Sewald was still his closer.

"We’re not gonna start that conversation yet," Lovullo said. "I’m not ready to make that decision. Paul’s been an unbelievable closer for us, and he will continue to get the baseball.”

While Sewald feels that his pitch execution has not been significantly worse in this stretch than it was earlier in the year, that does not mean that he has not made mistakes.

On Monday, Braves catcher Sean Murphy drove a fastball on the outside corner into right-center field for a game-tying home run. At first glance, the pitch location does not seem terrible:

Sewald was not looking to paint the outside edge, however. As is often the case with his four-seamer, he was aiming for the top of the zone.

"Just because it was on the outer corner doesn't make that a good pitch in my book," Sewald said.

Sewald also gave up a pair of homers on Friday against the San Diego Padres. Jurickson Profar led off the ninth with a game-tying solo shot. Two batters later, Manny Machado hit a walk-off two-run dinger.

Here were the locations of those pitches:

Again, these locations do not necessarily look terrible. But that sweeper on the inside corner to Machado was supposed to be on the outer edge, and the four-seamer — as always — was supposed to be up.

Of course, even major-league pitchers miss locations frequently. They often get away with it. In his past three outings, Sewald hasn't.

"I've thrown a couple of bad pitches this week," Sewald said. "And they've all just been hammered.

"It's just an unlucky week. They don't do that in batting practice. It's just been one of those weeks for me.”

While Lovullo left little doubt that Sewald was going to remain his closer anyway, Sewald does not seem concerned about how he'll be used moving forward.

"I don't need a light show," he said. "I just go out there and try to pitch the best I can every time.

"If [Torey] calls me for the ninth inning today, I'll be ready to pitch the ninth inning. If he calls me in the fifth, I'll also be ready to pitch the fifth."

Prior to Tuesday's loss against the Braves, the Diamondbacks had a lead in the eighth inning or later in 10 consecutive games. They went just 6-4 in those games.

With more luck moving forward, perhaps Sewald will soon find his way back to being one of the better closers in the game.